The Forest Dragon
by SilverForest94
Summary: What happens when David Ericson shoots down one of the deadliest dragons in the world? And what if that dragon becomes his friend? I stink at summaries. OC. Rated T, just in case. Created by my little sister, Belle.
1. Chapter 1: The Raid

This is my first story, so be gentle in your reviews

_**Chapter 1: The Raid**_

* * *

_**David's POV**_

_This is Berk; its twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the meridian of misery. My village. In a word, sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We have fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests. You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes. We have… dragons. Most people would leave. Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues. My name is David._

A Zippleback has just iced my house and flown off. I force the door open, run out of my house, and head toward the village square when Hoark spots me and yells, "What are you doing here?! Get inside!" this is quickly followed by Helga yelling "What are you doing out?! Get back inside!" and finally, Jacob grabs me a demands, "David! What is he doing…? What are you doing out?! Get inside!"

_That's Jacob Ericson, chief of the tribe. They say when he was a baby; he popped a dragon's head clean off its shoulders. Do I believe it? Yes, I do._ As I walk away I hear Jacob demand, "What have we got?" I also hear Franmar's reply.

"Gronckles. Flightmares. Zipplebacks. Hoark saw a Monsterous Nightmare."

"Any Night Furies or Nadders?"

"None so far."

"Good. Hoist the torches!"

As I enter the forge, Harold Goggenston greets me "Nice of you to join the party! I thought you'd been carried off!"

My obvious reply, "Who, me? No, come on, I'm way too muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all this."

"They need toothpicks, don't they?" says the meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands. I've been his apprentice since I was little. Well, littler.

"Move to the lower defenses. We'll counterattack with the catapults. Hurry!"

I watch as a Monsterous Nightmare sets a house on fire. _See? Old village, lots and lots of new houses._

I hear Crystal Johanson yell to the fire brigade "Fire! Let's go!" Her job is so much cooler. I try to sneak out only to have Harold grab my shirt. "Come on," I protest, "Let me out, please. I need to make my mark."

"You've made plenty of marks, all in the wrong places."

"Please, two minutes, I'll kill a dragon. My life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date."

"You can't lift a hammer. You can't swing an axe. You can't even throw one of these!" Hoark takes the bolo out of Harold's hands and catches a Gronckle with it. Show off.

"Ok, fine, but this will throw it for me." And the mangler then decides to launch and hits Franmar in the face.

"See? Now this right here is what I'm talking about!"

"Mild calibration issue…"

"David! If you ever want to get out there to fight dragons, you need to stop all… this."

"But you just pointed to all of me."

"Yes, that's it! Stop being all of you."

"You, sir, are playing a dangerous game. Keeping this much raw Vikingness contained? There will be consequences!"

"I'll take my chances. Sword. Sharpen. Now."

_One day, I'll get out there. Because killing a dragon, is everything around here. A Gronckle is sure to get me a least noticed. Flightmares and Zipplebacks are aggressive. Taking down one of those would defiantly get me a girlfriend._

Suddenly, I hear Hoark yell, "They found the sheep!" Followed quickly by Jacob's "Concentrate fire over the lower bank. Hurry up! Fire!"

_And then there's the Monsterous Nightmare and the Skrill. Only the best Vikings go after those. They have this nasty habit of setting themselves on fire._

A Monsterous Nightmare begins an attack on the catapults and Jacob yells, "Reload! I'll take care of this."

_But the ultimate prizes are the dragons no one's ever killed. We call them the Night Fury and the…_

Someone yells, "Deadly Nadder! Get down!" as it blasts the catapult to pieces. I hear Jacob yell, "Jump!" to anyone still on the catapult platform.

_Neither the Night Fury nor the Deadly Nadder ever misses. No one has ever captured or killed a Nadder. That's why I'm going to be the first._

Harold turns to me and says, "Man the fort, David. They need me out there. Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean." Of course I knew what he meant, but did I listen? No. As I run the mangler toward the second catapult platform I hear voices demanding "Where are you going?" and "David! What about my sword!" My response, "Be right back!"

I reach the cliff and quickly put the mutilator into position. "Come on. Give me something to shoot at. Give me something to shoot at." I see it! As it takes out the second catapult I aim and fire. The force of the mangler knocks me down, but I hear the roar of pain and fury from the Nadder. "I hit it." I jump up, "Yes, I hit it! Did anybody see that?" Hear the sound of crunching wood behind me and turn to see that a Night Fury has destroyed the mangler and is about to attack me. "Except for you."

I run, screaming. I silently pray to Odin to save me. I cower behind a torch pillar and hope I lost it. I start to look around the pillar for the dragon when suddenly Jacob punches it in the snout. He, Hoark, Harold, and Franmar all capture the Night Fury, but not before it breaks the pillar and sends the torch pit rolling down the pier, destroying several ships.

_Oh, and there's one more thing you need to know. _I turn to Jacob and quietly say, "Sorry, Dad." Yep, he's my father. Seeing his anger I quickly say, "Ok, but I hit a Nadder." He's not impressed. He grabs me, and starts pulling me toward the house. "It's not like the last few times, dad! I really, actually hit it! You guys were busy. I had a very clear shot. It went down off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there before it…"

"Stop! Just stop. Every time you step outside, disaster follows. Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

"Between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't ya think?"

"This isn't a joke, David! Why can't you follow the simplest of orders?"

"I can't stop myself. I see a dragon and I have to just kill it. Ya know? It's who I am, Dad."

"You're many things, David. But a dragon killer is not one of them. Get back to the house. Harold, make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up."

As Harold escorts me home I hear a few members of Crystal's fire brigade make a few comments towards me. Adrian states, "Quite the performance." And Garrett bluntly says, "I've never seen anyone mess up that badly. That helped." I sarcastically reply, "Thank you, thank you. I was trying."

By the time we reach my house, I'm ready to argue my point with Harold. "I really did hit one."

"Sure, David." Ok, time for a new strategy, "He never listens." Referring to my father, of course.

"It runs in the family." Ignoring that remark I continue, "And when he does, it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on the meat in his sandwich. "Excuse me, barmaid. I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts, and glory on the side. This here, this is a talking fishbone.'"

"You're thinking about this all wrong. It's not so much what you look like; it's what's inside that he can't stand." I sarcastically reply, "Thank you for summing that up."

"Look the point is, stop trying to so hard to be something you're not."

I sigh, "I just want to be one of you guys." And shut the door. I immediately run out the back door. I'll find the Nadder. And I'll prove to them all that I am a Viking.

* * *

_**Hanna's POV**_

The raid started as usual, or so I've been told. Lots of fire, acid, and ice in the village. I look for my friends and other first time raiders: Cody, Blake, and Jessie.

Cody is quiet and calm, which is unusual, considering he's an acid-spitting Golden Dragon. He is currently following Garth, his Golden Dragon mentor. Blake on the other hand, is hot-headed, self-centered, show-off of a plasma-firing Forest Dragon. He's flying just off to my right and slightly above me. I know Blake has a crush on me but he already knows he can't have me; I don't like him that way. Then there's Jessie, she's hot-headed and aggressive, but that's normal with Ice dragons. She's the one with a crush on Blake, not me. But he can't see that and she won't admit it. My sister is the most stubborn dragon there is. I watch as she ices over a house near the cliff.

We are all raid trainees. We're young to be raiders, we've only been dragons for a year, but Venatricis needs more raiders. She keeps losing too many to Vikings or other dragons. My mother being one of them.

Just then I hear the call from Tonitrua, Venatricis's second-in-command and the only Thunder dragon under Venatricis's command. The raiders are being taken down by catapults; someone has to take them out. Now.

I'm going to be that someone. So, ignoring my orders to observe and not engage, I start shooting the catapults. The first was easy, so I go for the second, ignoring Blake's yelling for me to come back.

I aim, fire and destroy the second catapult, but before I can target something else to destroy, something wraps around me and I fall from the sky, screaming. I crash through the forest, breaking several trees and finally come to a stop by hitting a huge boulder. As I hit the boulder I feel horrendous pain shoot through my wing at the same time I hear an ominous snap. I lose consciousness…

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2: Emerald Green Eyes

_**Chapter 2: Emerald Green Eyes**_

* * *

_**David's POV**_

_Please be here, please be here…_

And… nope, no dragon here either. I've searched and searched and I can't find one dragon on this island. "Oh, the gods hate me. Some people lose their knife or their mug. No, not me, I manage to lose an entire dragon!" I smack a tree branch in frustration and it snaps back, hitting me in the eye.

Wait, the entire limb of the tree is broken. And there's a huge trench in the ground. Something big created the destruction here, something the size of a…

I run forward, _it must be the dragon!_ Then, I see it and I duck down. I carefully look over at it. It isn't moving, _it must be dead._ I slowly approach it, dagger drawn. "Oh, wow. I- I did it. Oh, I did it! This fixes everything! Yes! I have brought down this mighty beast!" As I say this I put my foot on the dragon and it shrugs me off, _it's still alive!_ Dagger still drawn I approach it again and see its emerald green eyes watching me.

_Just breathe David_, _you can do this._ "I'm going to kill you, dragon. Then I'll cut out your heart and take it to my father." I'm so nervous. "I am a Viking." It growls at me, "Grr?" "I am a Viking!" _I can do it, I can do it._ I can't help but look into its green eyes again. And I can't believe it; it looks just as scared as I am. It seems to almost be saying, _please don't do this…_

I can't do it. I just can't. I look at my dagger, at the dragon, then at the bolos wrapped around it. "I did this." _I hurt you, and now I hate what I've done to you._ I want to leave and never come here again, but first, what to do for the dragon? Look at my dagger again; _I know what I have to do…_

* * *

_**Hanna's POV**_

I sigh, and wait for the dagger to plunge through my heart. I hear him mutter, "I did this." _Of course you did now what are waiting for? I'm as good as dead anyways._ Then, the unexpected happens, he starts cutting me free. _What? But, why?_

_Oh well, I'm not going to miss an opportunity to escape._ I jump up and pin him down. _Show no mercy._ I prepare to blast him away, but I hesitate. _He spared me, I should spare him._ I roar in his face, turn around, and run away. I can't fly, my wing is broken. I jump over a log, and there's no ground beneath me! I glide down as best as I can and land with a thud. I look around me. _Oh, great, now I'm trapped here!_ I'm in a large cove, surrounded by cliffs, and I don't see a way out. _Great, just great…_

* * *

_**David's POV**_

I waited for the dragon to blast me. _Really smart, David, freeing a large plasma-blasting lizard without an escape route, nothing wrong with that idea..._ I closed my eyes and waited. Then, to me surprise, it roars in my face and runs off. _Well, that went well…_ and I faint.

(Hours later)

When I woke, I still couldn't believe what happened, and I walked home in a daze. As I approach my house I silently pray to the gods I can just go straight to my room, without my dad stopping me. As usual, they ignored me. "David."

Great, I guess I tell him now, "Dad, uh, I have to talk to you."

"I need to speak with you too, son." What does he need to say? He was right all along.

I state, "I don't want to fight dragons. What?" and at the same time he says, "It's time you learn to fight dragons. What?" I don't think I heard him right. He invites, "You go first." Ok, I'm still nervous, I'll let him go first. "No, you go first."

"All right. You get your wish. Dragon training… you start in the morning." Oh, boy. "Oh, man, I should have gone first. Uh, because I was thinking, you know we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings or small-home-repair Vikings?" Oh yeah, like he'll believe that.

"You'll need this," and he hands me an axe. "I don't want to fight dragons." Not after the Nadder, I can't kill something that can be just as scared as me.

He laughs and say, "Come on. Yes, you do." He just isn't getting it.

"Rephrase. Dad, I can't kill dragons."

"But you will kill dragons."

"No, I'm really very extra-sure that I won't."

"It's time, David"

"Can you not hear me?"

"This is serious, son. When you carry this axe, you carry all of us with you. Which means you walk like us, you talk like us, you think like us. No more of… this."

"You just gestured to all of me." Again.

"Deal?"

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided."

"Deal?"

Sigh, he never listens. "Deal."

"Good. Train hard. I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here. Maybe." Maybe if the dragons don't eat me first.

* * *

And reviewer: the dragon, in the movie the Night Fury is the most dangerous dragon; but in this story though the Vikings don't know it, but there are less dragon types then they think there is. Example is Night Furies and Deadly Nadders are actually both the same type of dragon. (And they don't look like the dragons from the movie, I'm basing dragon appearances off of some toy dragons made by Safari.)

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	3. Chapter 3: Training

_**Chapter 3: Training**_

_**David's POV**_

Harold welcomes us with a large, "Welcome to dragon training!" I hear Crystal mutter, "No turning back." And Garrett states, "I hope I get some serious burns, or some mauling, like on my shoulder or back." Crystal says sarcastically back, "Yeah, its only fun if you get a scar out of it." And of course I deadpan, "Yeah, no kidding, right? Pain. Love it." That's when the others notice me and Garrett asks, "Oh, great. Who let him in?"

Harold gets our attention back, "Let's get started! The recruit who does the best will win the honor of killing his first dragon, the Night Fury, in front of the entire village." Adrian bluntly asks, "David already killed a Deadly Nadder, so does that disqualify him?" He just had to remind me about that, didn't he? As he's laughing Garrett asks, "Can I transfer to the class with the cool Vikings?"

Harold tries to cheer me up in his odd way, "Don't worry. You're small and weak… that'll make you less of a target. They'll see you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking-like teens instead." Yeah, I feel so much better now. "Behind these doors are just a few of the many species you will learn to fight! The Hideous Zippleback, the Night Fury, and the Gronckle." He puts his hand on the latch to the Gronckle's pen. Garrett realizes what he's about to do, "Whoa, whoa! Wait, aren't you gonna teach us first?!" And Harold's oh so helpful remark, "I believe in learning on the job." And he releases the Gronckle.

"Today is about survival. If you get hit, you're dead!" The Gronckle looks around, choosing a target. "Quick! What's the first thing you'll need?" I go for the sarcastic approach, "A doctor?" And Crystal, as usual goes for the direct approach, "A shield!"

Harold goes with her answer, "Shields. Go!" He sees me struggling to hold both the shield and the axe. "Your most important piece of equipment is your shield! If you must choose between a sword or a shield, take the shield!" He calls out as the Gronckle spits acid on her shield, "Lydia, your out! Those shields are good for another thing. Noise! Makes lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim! All dragons have a limited number of shots. How many does a Gronckle have?"

Garrett says, "Five?" But Adrian corrects him, "No, six!"

"Correct, six! That's one for each of you!" The Gronckle hits Adrian's shield, "Adrian, out!" He spots me hiding, "David, get in there!" The Gronckle misses me by inches, as I go back into hiding. And as Garrett teases his sister, the Gronckle hits his shield, "Garrett! You're done!"

Back out in the ring I privately say to Crystal, "So, it's just you and me, huh?" I expect her to be annoyed, but she says, "Nope, just you." And the Gronckle spits at me and I drop my shield. As I race after it I hear Harold say, "One shot left!" I've almost gotten it when he yells my name. "David!" I turn to look, and its right behind me! I try to dodge, but it pins me to the wall. Well, now I'm dead. As it spits, Harold yanks its head up and saves me. "And that's six. Go back to bed, you overgrown lizard!" He shoves the Gronckle into its pen, "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." He turns to all of us and says "Remember, a dragon will always," he turns to me, "always go for the kill."

I look at the spot where the acid meant for me sits, eating its way through the stone wall. Then it hits me, the Nadder didn't go for the kill and I wonder, so why didn't you?

_**Hanna's POV**_

Geez, I'm bored! If this wing takes weeks to heal, I'll go crazy from shear boredom. Well, even if I could leave, where would I go? Not back to Venatricis's Island just to be eaten! But what am I going to do? There's nothing for me here except murdering Vikings! Then I hear something, and hide behind a pile of boulders.

It's him! The one who shot me! What's he doing here? And what does he have in his hands?

_**David's POV**_

It took some time, but I tracked the dragon to this cove and eventually found a way in. But where is it? I look around, but I don't see it. "Well, this was stupid." But then I notice something green next to my feet. I pick it up. It's a scale! The dragon was here! Then, I feel a warm breath on my shoulder. Its still here. I slowly turn and come face to face with it, again.

Its looks at me, then at the fish and the herbs in my hands. I wonder if they'll help it, for Vikings, they relive pain, not that many actually use them. I don't know if they'll help its wing though, and the fish is to feed it. It must be starving since it can't possibly be able to hunt with a broken wing.

_**Hanna's POV**_

I smell the herbs and the fish. Healing herbs! That'll make to pain go away! I snatch the herbs from his hand and gulp them down, and then I look at him again. He holds the fish out to me. Yuck, I hate raw fish. Why is the Viking boy helping me? First he doesn't kill me, and then he helps heal me and tries to feed me! Why? Only one way to know…

_**David's POV**_

It took the herbs and ate them; maybe it knows I'm trying to help it. It turns and looks at me. I offer it the fish, but it just stares at me, like its trying to figure me out. What am I saying? It's a dragon! They don't think like we do! Do they? Suddenly I'm not so sure…

And all rational thoughts go out the window as I watch the huge green reptile turn into a teenage girl with brilliant red hair and emerald green eyes! What in Thor's name?!

It, she, whatever, looks at me and asks, "Why are you helping me?"


	4. Chapter 4: Eels

David's POV

"What?" I ask in disbelief.

"Why are you helping me?" she repeats. "I-I just wanted to help you," I manage to say. "I mean, I did shoot you down." I can't believe it; I'm talking to a dragon-gone-human!

"Yes, you shot me down, didn't kill me, freed me, gave me healing herbs, and are _trying_ to feed me. You're a Viking, aren't you suppose to kill me?" she asks. "Well, yes, but I couldn't. You looked as scared as I was." That's stupid to say, now I know she'll kill me for sure.

She looks at me surprised. "Yeah, I was terrified. I thought I was going to die. After all, that's what any other Viking would have done." Great, I'm a freak even to dragons. "Well, sorry about your wing Ms. Nadder, I won't be doing it again anytime soon," and I turn to leave.

"Hanna." I stop "What?"

"My name is Hanna." Hanna, that's actually a beautiful name, not saying that out loud though. "My name is David Ericson."

* * *

Hanna's POV

"Why did you call me Ms. Nadder?" I've never spoken to a Viking before; this has got to be a first for all dragons. "Um, that's what type of dragon you are." What? That's a weird name. "I'm not a Nadder. My dragon-type is a Forest Dragon." Obviously.

"A Forest Dragon? That sounds a lot less dangerous then Deadly Nadder." Deadly, huh? That does sound dangerous, Blake would approve. I wonder if he was killed? "Did any of your fellow Vikings kill a dragon in the raid?"

"No, but we captured three; a Night Fury, a Hideous Zippleback, and a Gronckle." What in Thor's name is a Gronckle, Hideous Zippleback, or a Night Fury? I've never heard of those before. "What is a Gronckle, or a Hideous Zippleback, or a Night Fury?"

* * *

David's POV

"A Gronckle is a gold dragon that shoots acid, a Hideous Zippleback is a light blue and light purple dragon that breaths out an icy mist, and a Night Fury is a black dragon that shoots plasma at its target. It actually looks a lot like a Dead-… a Forest Dragon," I feel proud of my knowledge of dragons. After all, until we caught one we didn't know what a Night Fury looked like. "That sounds like a Golden Dragon, an Ice Dragon, and a black Forest Dragon to me." I look at Hanna, surprised. "There are black Forest Dragons?" Of course! That's why Hanna and the Night Fury look alike! They're both the same type of dragon!

"Yeah, it's just rarer to have black scales then it is to have green scales." She looked sad. "I know a Golden dragon named Cody, an Ice Dragon named Jessie, and the only black Forest Dragon I know of is Blake." Blake? The dragon that tried to kill me is a guy named Blake? "Oh, is he a friend of yours?"

* * *

Hanna's POV

"Yeah; he, Cody, and Jessie are my best friends." So Blake's captured, what about my sister and Cody? Are they the other captured ones? I can't help but hope that they-…

"Ahhh!" I scream and jump away from… a snake. Oh, not that's just embarrassing. I freaked out over a snake.

David looks at me strangely. "Are you afraid of snakes?" Oh, Gods! Why on earth would a dragon be afraid of snakes? Doesn't he know anything? "Of course not! No dragon is afraid of snakes! We fear nothing! … Except eels." I shudder just thinking of those slimy demons, so gross. He looks at me, brushes his handsome black hair out of his eyes, and… _Wait. Handsome black hair? Get a grip Hanna, he's a Viking! Not a dragon! Why would I consider him handsome?!_

* * *

David's POV

Eels. Dragons are afraid of eels? That's an unusual fact. How much don't we know of them? I've never heard of any of this before! I look over at Hanna and push some stray hair back into place. "Wow, I never heard of that." She gives me an odd look before answering, "You haven't? I thought Vikings knew everything about us." I look at her surprised, why would we know everything? It's not like we talk to dragons everyday! But... I can.

I freeze. I can learn about dragons from Hanna! It's so simple! I can just come by and learn from her everyday after training everyday! But… will Hanna agree to teach me?

* * *

Hanna POV

David looks excited, why? Before I can ask him, he asks, "Can I come back tomorrow and learn more about dragons? I won't tell anyone about you." Come back? Learn about dragons? That's actually a good idea, not only will he learn more about me, I mean us, teaching him about us will give me something to do while my wing heals... Just as long as I don't start liking him.


	5. Note

I won't be posting any new chapters for awhile, my sister and creator of The Forest Dragon, passed away. I don't know when I will continue her story, if I do.

Sorry, Stephanie


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